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Facts on Finland - fun to know absolutely useless trivia about Finland and the Finns.

Here we collect some facts on Finland. If you are wondering how many lakes are in Finland, or how many Baltic Herrings were catch by the Finnish fishermen to feed the children in the Finnish schools, look no further. Impress your friends with this precise and yet absolutely useless knowledge.

Geography - Finland is 1.250 km long!

You have heard about Finland as the land of the thousand lakes, but did you know there are actually over 188.000 lakes with 98.000 islands? If you are planning a trip to Helsinki, don't come on one of the 121 rainy days.

• Total area 338.145 km2
  • Land area 304.473 km2
  • Lake area 33.672 km2
• Max lenght (Hanko - Utsjoki) 1.250 km
• Max width (Närpes - Virmajärvi) 542 km
• South (Bogskär, Kökar) 59° 30´10´´
• North (Nuorgam, Utsjoki) 70° 5´30´´
• West (Märket, Eckerö) 19° 8´10´´
• East (Virmajärvi, Ilomantsi) 31° 35´20´´
• Circumference 3.940 km
• Highest point (Halti, Enontekiö) 1.238 m
• Lakes 188.000
  • Largest lake (Saimaa) 1.377 km2
  • Islands in the sea 81.000
  • Islands in the lakes 98.000
• Rivers and creeks 647
• Mean temperature 5,9°C
• Humidity % 77 %
• Rainy days per year 121 days
• Rain per year 709 mm

The Finnish people - more women than men

We are not that many, and a lot of us live in Helsinki. There are 119.701 more women than men, 6.832 Finns are in prison and 2.790 would still fit in, so do behave!

• Population 5.194.901
  • Women 2.657.301
  • Men 2.537.600
• Inhabitants in Helsinki 559.718
• Finns /km2 17,1
• Finns in prison 6.832
• Murders in Finland / year ~155
• Booze drank by Finns / year 27.551.000 l
• Beer drank by Finns / year 404.193.000 l

The languages in Finland

Finland is bilingual by constitution, though practically Finnish is the main language. Swedish is spoken in coastal areas and Sámi in the northern Lapland. Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language.

• Finnish speakers 92,27 %
• Swedish speakers 5,60 %
• Sámi speakers 0,03 %
• Other speakers 2,1 %

Communication and traffic

Helsinki is the only city in Finland with a tram network and a metro. There are 73 km tram tracks in Helsinki, 109 trams in traffic and the most northern tram stop is Käpylä (tram no. 1).

• Tram track 73 km
• Trams in traffic 109
• Metro 21 km
• Railroad 5.850 km
• People with drivers licence 3.207.689
• Cars to drive on Finnish roads 2.160.603
• Internet / 1000 Finns 182
• Patents approved 2001 2.660
• Patents valid 2001 19.949
• Mobile phones owned by Finns 4.175.587

Income and unemployment

According to statistics Finnish women earn 1.000 € less than men per month.

• Monthly salary Women 2.124 €
• Monthly salary Men 3.175 €
• Monthly salary average 2.539 €
• Unemployment rate 9,1 %

Livestock in Finland - very furry

There are quite a lot of reindeer in Finland, but they are all in Lapland. We have other animals down south. Who counted all the chicken? What a job!

• Fur animals 3.360.502
• Cows 1.037.407
• Pigs 1.260.801
• Chicken 1.043.003
• Reindeer 186.000
• Horses 58.600
• Sheep 96.000

Hunting and Fishing in Finland

Not all Finnish animals are domestic, and certainly not the moose. These are wild animals we like to kill. The Baltic Herring is the most catch fish in our waters. It is delicious in all forms except as "Tomato Baltic Herring" (Tomaatti Silakka / Tomat Strömming) which is a common torture method in Finnish schools.

• Moose & other artiodactylus 49.736
• Squirrels 3.620
• Rabbits 459.360
• Beaver 2.051
• Fox 56.380
• Willow Grouse 90.680
• Baltic Herring (kg) 81.916.000
• Perch (kg) 1.062.000
• Tuna (kg) -
• Roach (kg) 1.175.000

This indispensable knowledge was extracted from: Statistical Yearbook of Finland 2002, Statistics Finland. Thank you! We appreciate your hard work.